


Promnesia: Ignis Fatuus

by FirebirdsDaughter



Category: Kamen Rider Zi-O
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, I guess there is violence in here but it's fairly tame, Someone stop me, i'll probably add more tags when there are more, this could get really dark though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-13 00:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17477672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FirebirdsDaughter/pseuds/FirebirdsDaughter
Summary: A new threat pushes Sougo to the edge with her plan to make him experience the same pain Ouma Zi-O inflicted upon her...





	1. Start

**Author's Note:**

> This needs a better summary, but I can't think of one right now.  
> But I'm quite fond of at least the latter half. XD

Sougo sat up in bed with a scream, so fast he made himself dizzy. Quickly casting about, he established that he was still in his own room. Morning light was streaming in through the partially open window, and he could hear the sound of a bird scratching at the pane. The clock read two past nine on a Saturday.

Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, he tried to get up—only for them to give out beneath him, dropping him to the floor with a loud crash.

“Sougo?” He heard his uncle call from downstairs. “Everything alright?”

“I’m fine!” He shouted back, hauling himself to his feet and setting about getting dressed, fishing through the room for clean clothes.

For some reason, he felt like he needed to get going early.

* * *

He arrived downstairs to find everyone else was already up and dressed as well. Geiz and Tsukuyomi seemed to have already eaten, too, just sitting at the table like they were having a meeting—or just brooding, in Geiz’s case.

“Good morning!” Tsukuyomi said as he sat down, while Geiz merely grunted reluctantly.

“Morning.” He mumbled back despondently.

She frowned at his miserable tone so early in the morning. “Sougo? Are you okay?”

It took him a moment to comprehend what she’d said, and when he looked up, even Geiz was giving him a curious look. “I… I’m fine.” He stammered. “I had a bad dream”

“Bad dream?” Junichiro had joined them, sitting down across from Sougo as he put a plate of food down in front of his nephew. “About what?”

Sougo frowned, searching for the best way to explain it. “It started off pretty normal, actually…” He mumbled. “But…” At that moment, the doorbell rang, interrupting the conversation.

“Who could that be, at this hour…?” Junichiro wondered, getting to his feet and heading for the front room. They heard the door—and then delighted exclamations on Junichiro’s part answered the question.

“ **Woz**.” Geiz and Tsukuyomi sighed simultaneously. Then he added, “We really need to make someone else bring a clock here.”

Sougo could only shrug, getting to his feet and making his way to the other room. It was indeed Woz, and it looked like he really had found the clock in the trash this time. For some reason, though, Sougo felt extra apprehensive about the implications. Woz usually only showed up when he wanted something, yes, but… There was another layer of nerves that he couldn’t properly identify.

A groan behind him told him that Geiz and Tsukuyomi had joined them, at the same time Junichiro was booking it to the store room to look for tools in record time. The instant he was out of the way, Geiz folded his arms ad glared at the prophet. “What is it **now**?”

Woz huffed, looking vaguely affronted. “And after I came all the way here to warn you.”

“Warn us? About what?” Tsukuyomi asked.

With a flourishing turn, Woz paced away slightly, flipping the book open again. “Something seems to be happening sooner than it’s meant to.” He said, tapping a page; then he turned back, he gave them an astonishingly somber look. “… An event of great magnitude is about to occur within this area.” He produced a map of the city from somewhere in his coat, holding it up and indicating a circled area near the outskirts.

There was a silence.

“… Would it kill you,” Geiz asked at last, “To be more specific?”

Woz sighed, rolling his eyes. “I’m just reporting what’s in the book.”

“So… You don’t know the details, either.” Tsukuyomi concluded.

Woz blinked. “I… That is… It’s not…”

“Looks like you nailed it.” Geiz muttered to her. She nodded.

“Is there anyway to know when this… Event, or whatever is going to happen more exactly?” Sougo asked, trying to push through his other concerns. Woz looked at him, flipping briefly through the book before shaking his head.

“It also doesn’t tell us if it’s the Time Jackers or something else entirely.” Tsukuyomi added. “Your warning isn’t very useful.”

“I know it caused a large reaction in the book. Whatever’s coming is powerful, and it does not have good intentions.”

“What would you know about good intentions?” Geiz wanted to know. Woz shot him another offended look, but didn’t say anything.

Sougo looked up at the clock on the wall, frowning. It was barely edging toward nine thirty. Too early in the morning for Time Jackers, but it didn’t seem like there was a choice but to check things out.

Even though, for some reason, every neurone in his brain was screaming not to go.

* * *

Heure and Ora found Sworz brooding on another rooftop, staring at the city skyline with his arms folded. “Why did you call us all the way out here?” The youngest Time Jacker wanted to know, folding his arms and pouting slightly.

Sworz however, turned to look at them with something like surprise—or at least, what amounted to surprise for him. “I didn’t.” He replied. Then, “… You got it, too?”

Ora pulled an ornate, lavender-coloured card from her jacket, turning it so that the golden letters on it shimmered in the sunlight as she stared calculatingly at it. “But… If it wasn’t you…” Realisation came over her face, dread creeping into her voice. “Then the only option is…”

The sky flickered suddenly; clouds rushing in and blocking off the sun—then way away, then back again. The sun became the moon, then the sun again, stars blinked in and out. The blue cycled between the lightness of day and darkness of night, now fast, now slow. Winds picked up, then died abruptly, raindrops fell only to evaporate in intense heat, while freezing in icy temperatures. Lightning flashed, but thunder never came. Plants budded, grew, and withered all at the same time and out of order.

Time itself was twisting out of whack. Which could only mean one thing.

They all felt the presence behind them, felt the world around them stutter, even before they heard the footsteps, and the third, clicking sound, turning as one.

“… You.” Ora whispered, as the footsteps stoped.

* * *

After an hour and a half of something crossed between wandering aimlessly and systematic searching, they passed an old fashioned, European-style building, sitting off by itself, long abandoned. Sougo vague remembered seeing some magazine article or something about it being the former home of some rather rick person, who passed had away without any children, leaving it empty, but that wasn’t why he stopped to stare at it.

Geiz and Tsukuyomi realised he wasn’t following, and backtracked to see what had kept him. “Sougo?” She asked, looking at him curiously. Then, she glanced at the house. “You think this has something to do with it?”

“… I don’t know.” He admitted. “It was…” He hesitated again. “My dream. I remember seeing this place in my dream.”

Tsukuyomi frowned. “… You had a dream about Kamen Rider Shinobi before he happened…” She squinted at the house. “Maybe this place has something to do with what Woz was talking about?

Like it was trying to answer, the building’s door popped open on its own.

“Well,” Geiz conceded. “That’s not normal.”

Tsukuyomi was already pulling the FaizPhone out and setting it in gun mode. “Which is why we need to check it out.”

Geiz took the lead going in, Tsukuyomi following him with the phone up and ready, Sougo trudging along behind them. He wasn’t sure why he was so reluctant, but unnerved sensation was back, hanging around the house like a cloud.

The majority of the doors were locked, the windows boarded up. The furniture was covered in white cloths, which seemed to have attracted dust rather than anything else. The carpet was coming apart in places, and there were multiple rotten patches in the floorboards. Surprisingly, though, the main staircase was completely intact, so after checking all the doors in the front hall, they headed upward, to search the higher floors. Eventually, they found a trail of unlocked doors that lead somewhere, deeper into the house—doors that conspicuously rattled or popped open when they approached.

The path that opened came to a stop in front of a pair of great, ornate double doors.

“Anyone else getting the feeling this is a trap?” Geiz asked, pulling out his Ride Watch preemptively. Sougo nodded, doing the same. There was definitely **something** on the other side of the door, something that felt like it was making everything in the house stand still.

Once they all felt ready, they worked together to shove the doors open.

Beyond was a huge room—some sort of former ballroom or hall, Sougo supposed, from when the house was still lived in. They were on a small raised part, at the top of stair leading down to the floor. There were huge windows in the far wall, looking out over agarden, the floor was smooth and wide open. There were the remains of crystalline chandeliers dangling from the painted ceiling, and portraits and other artwork hanging on the walls.

And, standing in the centre of the room like she owned it, was a tall woman dressed in light purple.

She was a stranger, but there was no mistaking the style of her clothes. The skirt reached almost her ankles above silver-toed black boots, the hem inset with silver rings, a slit running up to just above her knee on either side; the top was a fitted vest with a equally silver-edged high collar that brushed her earrings—feathers embellished with jewels, which were also braided into her hair, the only long strand escaping from a swirling bun on the back of her head—whenever she tilted her head. Her arms were covered by full-length fingerless gloves that also had the little silver rings sewn into the fringes. She was holding an ornate walking stick with a flat, circular head with a design that looked rather like a black hole, though how much she was leaning on it was unclear—she didn’t look old enough to need it, though there were lines in her face and sunlight glanced off a few silver threads in her hair. Her expression was impassive, distant and cold.

But her dark eyes burned like angry stars.

“… Time Jacker.” Tsukuyomi noted apprehensively.

“… Druga.” Said a voice behind them, making them turn to discover that Woz had elected to appear—and was staring at the woman below with nothing short of fear.

“You know her?” Sougo asked, but the prophet seemed to disturbed to answer.

The woman did not smile, raising an arm to curtsey dramatically. “Indeed. That is what I am called.” She said, in a deep, reverberating voice that chilled like a winter wind. Straightening, she held her cane in front of her with both hands, tip set firmly on the ground. “I have been waiting for you. It seemed to me it was time we made each other’s acquaintance, Ouma Zi-O.”

Sougo edged forward, taking the few steps down the stairs carefully, making sure to be aware of where the others were behind him. There was something about Druga that made the air even more stagnant than the other Time Jackers. The way her face was completely blank while her eyes were brimming with hatred and fury didn’t help—it could be massive control that kept her emotions out of the rest of her face, simply that she wasn’t very expressive, or… Or maybe something else. Something much darker.

“… What do you want?” He asked cautiously as he reached the floor. Geiz stepped up beside him while both Woz and Tsukuyomi hung back.

Druga tapped her cane on the ground once, then began to pace, circling an arc around where they stop at the foot of the stairs. “That is a question, is it not?” She stopped walking to face them again. “Obviously, my most basic goals are the same as my compatriots. However…” Lifting the cane by the stick, she twirled around a bit and paced back the other way. “… I do have another design.”

“Which is…?” Geiz asked, hand tightening around his Ride Watch.

Druga made a sound that might have been a laugh, though it didn’t show on her face. Slamming the tip of her cane back on the ground, she reached up and flipped the head open to reveal on ornate, antique clock face. Holding the edges between two fingers, she started turning it back, and the cane made sounds like a pocket watch winding up. “… You took something very important from me, Ouma Zi-O.” She said slowly, far too casually for comfort, continuing to turn the clock in her cane. “That’s why…” Something clicked into place, and she looked up at them, her face finally changing—into an absolutely terrifying, cruel smile. “… I’m going to make you understand **exactly** how that feels.” She snapped the head of the cane closed, hefting it into her hand. Then she vanished.

She reappeared right in front of him, and Sougo barely had time to duck out of the way as she swung the cane at him—he felt the breeze from it on his face, strong enough to indicate she was moving faster and the that thing was heavier than it looked. He quickly snapped the Driver on, noticing Geiz doing the same on her other side.

“So a Time Jacker is finally doing the fighting themselves?” The other Rider growled as they both henshined.

Druga just made the almost-laugh sound again. “You could say that.” She replied ominously, swinging her can at Sougo again. This time he blocked it, but it felt like it sent vibrations right through him into the ground from the force. “But you will find I’m a little more… Active than some of my other allies.” She ducked gracefully out of the way when they tried to counterattack. “Plus, I have other skills.” Her cane banged on the ground once more, sending shudders through the shadows cast by the light through the windows. Faded, ghostly forms rose out of them, flickering and flashing.

“Another Riders!?” Tsukuyomi gasped, then dodged, vaulting over the stair railing, when one of them made a go at her.

“No.” Woz said, moving away from another one that was climbing up the stairs toward him. “Just some sort of… Reflections of them!” The last part came out a little more harshly than intended when one of the shadows got hold of his scarf, puling on it like it was trying to drag Woz into the floor with it. It might have succeeded—if Tsukuyomi hadn’t popped back up over the rail and fired the FaizPhone on both it and the one that had been attacking her, The blasts passed right through them, but both vanished as it did… Only to reform moments later. It was enough time for Woz to get away, though, giving Tsukuyomi a look that was somewhere between shocked, and possibly a little grateful.

Geiz and Sougo had enough trouble trying to keep up with Druga, especially when the other shadow figures joined in, herding them apart. The moment she was free of them both, the Time Jacker vanished again—reappearing behind Tsukuyomi, this time. Sougo tried to yell a warning; luckily, Tsukuyomi’s own instincts made her look just in time, though she still only barely dodged the swing of the cane, spinning away from the woman. Geiz tried to start over to help her, but was cut off by the shadow monsters, which began replicating themselves, splitting into more.

Druga continued pursuing the other girl, dodging blasts from the FaizPhone, and even knocking them away with her cane. Eventually, she got close enough that she was able to bat the weapon out of Tsukuyomi’s hand with the stick—which made and awful sound like bone breaking when it connected, also stunning Tsukuyomi for a moment, allowing the Time Jacker to seize her by the collar of her dress.

“Tsukuyomi!” Geiz yelled, and tried to make a tank run toward her through the shadows. Sougo went to go as well, but found the mimic Another Riders reaching ghostly arms out of the floor to hold his legs. Even Woz looked slightly distressed and started over.

Druga didn’t give them time to make it.

Without a single hesitation, she threw Tsukuyomi the length of the hall, sending the girl crashing hard into the wall—hard enough to smash a massive crater into it—but that wasn’t it. With a flick of her fingers, she sent Tsukuyomi into the other wall, then the roof, with same force, and started to go again—when Woz’s scarf shot out and wrapped around her wrist, yanking it aside and interrupting the motion, causing Tsukuyomi to drop back to the ground. But the damage was already done—she landed slightly unnaturally, her head was bleeding heavily, and Sougo couldn’t see any indication that she was breathing.

He let out a scream that started with ‘no’ and ended wordless. Geiz went unexpectedly quiet, freezing up. Woz looked genuinely astonished, and even upset.

The Time Jacker didn’t give them a moment to process, however. The shadows swarmed at Geiz again, who barely managed to move in time to get out of the way, and Sougo found himself besieged as well. Druga, meanwhile, flicked her wrist around, actually grabbing hold of Woz’s scarf and yanking it forcefully—so hard she knocked the prophet clean over. He scrambled back up as she advanced, managing to block one of her swings and trying to duck away—which was hard because she was still holding onto his scarf, wrapping it around her had to reduce the distance. Finally, he tried to hit her back, but she caught it and dragged him into an armlock. “Shouldn’t you be happy?” She asked snidely. “I was under the impression you were on opposite sides.”

Like always, Woz’s face didn’t betray much of his thoughts, but there was venom in his tone when he spat “Shut up!” at her. She just laughed and hit him in the stomach with the head of her cane, sending him sprawling across the ground.

With a few purposeful steps, she crossed over and set a foot on his shoulder before he could get back up. “You should have stayed out of this, book boy.” Flipping her cane around, she tapped the head on the ground four times. Time around her stopped—then seemed to go much too fast. The are seemed to glitch and blur like damaged film—but the most terrifying part was that, Sougo realised with a jolt, Woz seemed to be disintegrating into nothing, looking scared and in pain, emotions showing plainly on his face for the first time.

A blast of red light flew past Sougo’s face, and looked briefly to realise that Geiz had the Zikan Bow out, and had elected to dissipate the shadows surrounding him, giving him a clear line to the Time Jacker’s back. So Sougo didn’t wait, barrelling toward Druga and Woz as fast as his legs could carry him. At the last moment, however, she stepped sideways—and he merely fell face-first onto the floor, landing roughly on his elbows. Woz was gone—not even his book remained.

“No…” Sougo mumbled, his transformation disappearing, maybe because he no longer had the will to maintain it. The shadow versions of the Another Riders didn’t reform that time, but he didn’t notice—just sitting on his knees in shock. His gaze trailed up towards where Tsukuyomi had fallen, a few paces away, his breathing becoming shaky and panicked. “No no no no no…!”

Druga looked down at him—almost amusedly—for a moment, then flipped her cane back upright. “Shall we do this the old-fashioned way, Ouma Zi-O?” She asked with mock chivalry; pulling on the head of the cane, she drew from it a blade that also seemed to make the air around it flicker and dim.

“Zi-O!” He heard Geiz yell desperately, faintly, behind him, but he just couldn’t seem to care at that moment. When he did nothing, even as Druga stepped back and readied the sword, the frantic shout turned into “ **Sougo**!”

The blade flashed forward, streaking towards his back. There was motion behind him. He heard a cracking sound, a point punching through something hard. Then silence, save for someone’s quiet, pained breathing. Slowly, uncertainly, he found himself turning around.

Geiz was at his back, somehow having wedged himself between Sougo and Druga. Seeing the other Rider’s shoulders shaking, and hearing how strained his breathing suddenly was, Sougo fumbled his way up higher on his knees to see—then wished he hadn’t. Geiz had somehow gotten between them in time, seemed to have grabbed the cane sword to try and hold it off—and when that had failed, he’d used his own body as a shield. The blade had gone right through his armour, the cracks it made also glitching around the edges, sinking somewhere into his abdomen. With another malicious smirk, Druga even drove it a little bit further before yanking it out, allowing Geiz to fall forward on his knees, his transformation also vanishing.

Geiz felt for the wound with one hand, and the palm came away covered in red—and blood continued to seep from it too quickly, much too quickly.Sougo lurched forward to support him when he slumped sideways, trying to hold the other Rider up by the shoulders. Geiz’s eyes lifted to his face—and, for a moment, one of his customary scowls crossed his features. “Of all… The ways…” He grumbled softly, “I got out… Protecting **you** …?” He shook his head. “… You’d… Better not… Die…” Then his eyes went blank, and fell almost closed, and he dropped limply into Sougo’s chest.

Sougo caught him, shaking him frantically. “Geiz… Geiz!”

“He’s dead, Ouma Zi-O.” Druga told him, smirking again. “All of them are.” Panicked, Sougo instinctively wrapped his arms protectively around Geiz’s shoulders, hold this other Rider close as the Time Jacker towered over him, twirling the blade, now shiny with blood, to sheathe it once more. “Still clinging to a corpse?” She laughed again. “Pathetic.”

He just stared at her, too shattered to cry. He knew she was right—with Geiz pressed against his chest, he could feel the stillness where heartbeat should have been, Tsukuyomi still wasn’t moving at all, and lay in a way a human body wasn’t meant to, and Woz… Who knew what she’d done to Woz. “… **Why**?” The word was meaningless—a faint, broken, aggrieved breath.

She leaned down to talk to him like she was speaking to a small child. “Didn’t I tell you? I want you to understand how it feels.” She stepped back. “We’ll meet again.” Her cane tapped on the floor one more time.

He heard the chandelier above him break loose, and whistle through the air toward him.

Then darkness.

* * *

Sougo sat up in bed with a scream, so fast he made himself dizzy. Quickly casting about, he established that he was still in his own room. Morning light was streaming in through the partially open window, and he could hear the sound of a bird scratching at the pane.

The clock read two past nine on a Saturday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meet Druga, everyone! Isn't she lovely? ^^  
> As far as Time Jackers fighting goes... I feel like we've seen little indication as to whether or not they can? Like... I guess Heure was freaked out by the car Shiro Woz threw at him, but he's a kid. Maybe the older ones have more experience? I mean, they're certainly pretty powerful in their own way. Maybe she's just focusing on combat more.


	2. Loop 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could say I'm not doing that, but I would **_ABSOLUTELY_** be lying.

He was still trembling. He pinched himself, found his phone and double checked the time. The date.

It was all the same.

It didn’t make sense. The sight of his friends’ bodies was burned into his retinas—Tsukuyomi in a broken pile on the floor, Woz vanishing into nothing, Geiz bleeding out right in front of him. He could still feel the sensation of the other Rider’s body in his arms, the chill of the ghostly claws of the Shadow Another Rider’s, the terrifying air of Druga’s voice.

Druga. She had done this. Somehow. _We’ll meet again_ , she’d said. Did that mean, he was really back in the morning, that their encounter was going to happen all over again?

 _Then maybe you can change it_ , offered a small, hopeful voice in his mind, _Maybe you can save them_.

As quickly as he could, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and started to get up—then paused, remembering what had happened last time. Before. Would have happened. Time travel was hard. Still, he gave himself a moment to find his balance, and got to his feet without falling, eliciting no concerned calls from downstairs. Going for clothes, he paused again—and sought out a different outfit that the one he had chosen the first time. Butterfly theory, after all. Every change could be important.

Once fully dressed, he hurried down to seek out the others.

* * *

They were in the same places—Tsukuyomi sitting at the table looking at her pad, Geiz across from her, arms folded, frowning as usual. Junichiro was bustling about the kitchen. Quickly, he crossed over to the table, leaning both hands on it, making them both look up in surprise. “You two have already eaten, right?”

They both gave him an odd look, and finally Tsukuyomi said, “Yes…?”

“Good.” He declared, turning to rush over and grab the Ride Watches, tossing some to Geiz—who caught them deftly, but still glared at him a little. “Then we should get ready before Woz shows up.”

“Woz-kun?” Junichiro asked, having come back in carrying another plate. “Did he say he was coming?”

“… Not exactly,” Sougo confessed, then noticed the plate. “I’ll pass on breakfast for today, Oji-san.” Grabbing both Geiz and Tsukuyomi by the arms, he hauled them up and towards the front room at the same time the bell rang and the door opened.

It was Woz, like it had been before, and Sougo merely pushed the other two towards the shoes before hurrying over and grabbing the clock out of the prophet’s hand and depositing it on the counter. “I know, I know.” He said, when Woz opened his mouth. “Big thing going on by the city limits.” Woz looked vaguely offended at having been interrupted with the very information he was bringing, but recovered quickly—at least, until Sougo had his shoes on and was pushing everyone out the door as fast as he could. Despite some struggling and resistance, he still managed to get everyone out before his uncle made it into the room.

* * *

“Oi, Zi-O!” Geiz demanded, yanking his arm out of Sougo’s hold, and coming to a stop, bringing everything up short. “What the hell is going on?”

Knowing Geiz wouldn’t move until he was satisfied with the answer, Sougo doubled back. “Okay, this is gonna sound weird, But…” He paced away from them slightly, mussing his own hair, “… I think I’ve already gone through this day.”

“That’s… Not as weird as it could be.” Tsukuyomi told him. “But… Sougo, time loops are an extremely rare phenomenon. There’s only been a few documented cases. Are you sure it wasn’t a dream?”

“I don’t think so…” He said slowly, facing them again. “But even if it was… I mean, you’re the one brought up me dreaming about Shinobi before he showed up.”

All three of them stared at him. “I… I never said that.” Tsukuyomi said.

Sougo blinked a few times. “… Oh… Oh, yeah. No, no, you said it yesterday. Today. The other today.”

“My Overlord,” Woz interrupted, stepping forward, “Creating a time loop would also require and immense amount of power and control over time. There are very few individuals who could enact such a feat, the most prominent being your future self… It would be incredibly unlikely to encounter another-”

Then, Sougo remembered Woz’s look of recognition at meeting the Time Jacker. “What about a Time Jacker called Druga?” He asked.

Woz did a double take, making a sound like he was choking, and nearly dropped his book, whirling around to stare at him. “D… **Druga**?”

Geiz took a step forward, brows knitting together apprehensively at the prophet’s extreme reaction. “You know who that is?”

Woz turned away from them, taking deep breaths, but he was paler and his hand was trembling as it clutched his book. “Druga is… Extremely dangerous. She has sacrificed much for massive control over time and space. She has no mercy, remorse, or restraint.” He turned around to look pointedly at Sougo. “And she has a deep grudge against you, My Overlord.”

“Yeah.” Sougo replied flatly, thinking back to the horrid scene, “I noticed.” There must have been something in his tone, because they all, even Geiz, gave him concerned looks. Not wanting to explain, he pressed on. “But would she be able to create a time loop?”

Woz considered. “… Yes, that would definitely be possible. Though…” He rubbed the spine of his book thoughtfully, “It would take much preparation and focus. In all likelihood, there could be only one attempt.”

“So,” Geiz summarised, “Assuming this **is** a time loop, and Zi-O **isn’t** imagining things, then if we break out of this, she won’t be able to do it again?”

Woz nodded. “It’s highly probable.” He looked sideways at Sougo. “However, Druga has elected to remain in the background, my Overlord. How did you come to know of her?”

“Apparently she’s decided to step out of the background.” Sougo said, a dark edge finally creeping into his voice. Taking in their looks, he slowly added, “Look, let’s just say this day didn’t end well for us before.” That sounded a lot better than ‘you were all dead before noon.’

Any other questions they might have had, though, were cut off by the sound of a bike bell, and they were all forced to sidestep out of the way as a cyclist in a red jacket breezed past them. Woz looked vaguely offended, brushing off the dust that had been sprayed on his coat, while Geiz just shook his head, and Tsukuyomi reached out to pull Sougo over to their side of the sidewalk, out of the way.

Grateful for the distraction, he changed the subject. “Anyway, I know where we’re going. There’s a huge old house out here by the edge of town. She’s in there.” Before they could ask any more, he was marching purposefully away.

* * *

“That’s a creepy house.” Tsukuyomi said, eyeing the huge structure looming above them.

“Somehow it’s even creepier now…” Sougo muttered, mostly to himself. Though it wasn’t ‘somehow.’ It was because he knew what had happened in there last time. Pushing those thoughts away, he hurried up the steps to the large door, pausing in front of it. “Okay, last time, it just opened on its-”

As he spoke, the door popped open with a click, the lock still on, the deadbolt sticking out of the side.

“That’s not normal.” Geiz said again. Or maybe for the first time, Sougo wasn’t sure how exactly this worked.

Regardless, he turned back to the others. “Okay. There were a bunch of doors that did this, and then she was way inside the house, in this… Ballroom-hall-place.” None of them looked very impressed by his room description, but he couldn’t be bothered by that. “She was really strong, and then she summoned these weird… Shadow versions of past Another Riders. And they multiplied. She seemed to be calling them with her cane.” He looked pleadingly at them. “We need to try and stop her as quickly as possible, before too many show up. Maybe breaking the walking stick will do it.”

There was a silence, then, “Zi-O,” Geiz began slowly, “How bad is ‘not well’?”

Sougo’s only response was to quickly turn on his heel and hurry into the house.

* * *

The doors opened again like he remembered, the very same ones, too. They were here earlier than than they had been before—just past ten when it had been eleven last time. He didn’t know if that would make a difference. He prayed it would.

He brought them to a stop in front of the double doors to get his equipment out, even grabbing Geiz’ Ride Watch for him when the other Rider didn’t get it fast enough. Geiz just snatched it back with a silent glare. Sougo ignored it, merely asking “Everyone ready?” He waited until he was sure he got hesitant nods from all three of them, then stepped back and transformed, waiting only briefly to make sure Geiz did, too, before turning and kicking the doors open.

Druga was sitting on one of the large window sills this time, legs crossed, one foot bouncing a little. The head of her cane was already open, and she was turning the clock face as they came in, hardly looking up. Out of the corner of his eye, Sougo saw Woz reacting to her.

“Druga.” His voice dropped unintentionally to a furious growl—what she’d done last time was all to clear in his memory.

The cane clicked again, and she snapped it closed once more, rising gracefully. “Like I said, Ouma Zi-O.” She replied, in the same low, frozen voice, eyes still as terrifying as before. “We meet again.”

Sougo jumped all the way down the stairs, not bothering to take the time to walk. “This isn’t going to go the same way.” He snapped.

Druga’s cruel smile played over her face once more. “Oh,” She told him with dreadful sweetness, “But I’m afraid it will.”

He tried to charge her, and she vanished, reappearing behind him. He just barely heard the whistling of the cane swinging through the air in time to duck, then he tried to jump back up and catch it, but she slipped out of his hand. Appearing a few paces away, she twirled the cane around, bringing it down towards the floor once more—but at the last moment, Woz’s scarf shot out and wrapped around it and her wrist, bringing it to a halt just a hair’s breadth from the floorboards. Her only response was a casual glance, then yanked it sharply toward her. Woz was dragged a little way down the stairs before Tsukuyomi ran over and grabbed hold of the scarf as well, pulling back.

Even with both of them, it was clearly a strain to fight against her strength—so the moment Sougo saw an opening, he took it. He did bother looking to see if Geiz was moving too, certain that he would be; despite the occasional friction between them, they did always seem to synchronise in a fight.

But Druga ducked under Geiz’s swing and blocked his kick with her other arm. She twirled around, bring the scarf over her head, and swinging out a foot that knocked Sougo’s legs out from under him. Letting go of the cane with one hand, she caught it with the other, pulling the sword out with a flick of her thumb, and spinning it around to cut right through the cloth around her wrist, the sudden slack knocking both Woz and Tsukuyomi over. Shaking the remains off her arm, she kicked the sheath part back into her hold with her heel, in time to double block punches from both Geiz and the recovered Sougo.

“I see the plan here.” She said cheerily, voice sing-songing a little. “But it’s not going to work.” With another spin to get away from them, she re-sheathed the blade. “Fate doesn’t change so easily.” She raised the cane again to bring it back down.

With the fastest ‘Zikan Bow’ switch Zougo had ever heard, Geiz shot it in half.

Druga paused for a moment, lifting it up to examine the damage, then looked back at the red Rider with a new expression—rage creeping just slightly into her features. “That,” She said simply, her voice almost cold and affectless as before, but with a slight growl at the edge, “Wasn’t very nice.” Twirling it around her hand like a baton, she slammed the head down on the floor so hard the wood splintered.

Shadows erupted from the floor and walls, reaching and grabbing. Sougo found himself being seized by h is arms as well as his legs, and could see them mimics swarming up the stairs toward Woz and Tsukuyomi—she already had the FaizPhone out and was blasting them as they came, but they were multiplying again and she could only shot so fast. Woz was actually trying to hit them with the book, which seemed to be working just as temporarily. And like, before, the monsters kept reforming moments later.

Druga, meanwhile, vanished from her spot, reappearing right in front of Geiz, looking like she was absolutely seething beneath the icy mask. He blocked the first swing with the Zikan Axe, but the second one knocked the weapon clean out of his hands. Druga didn’t stop for a second, hand shooting to grab the Rider by the throat. “That… Was…” She whispered intensely, forcing him roughly to his knees through sheer strength despite his attempts to throw her off, “A… Wedding… **Gift** …!” She took a step closer, her hold tightening. Looking briefly sideways at Sougo, she met his gaze for a moment.

Making sure he was watching.

Then she stabbed Geiz through the chest with the broken cane, not even bothering to draw the blade.

“ **Geiz**!” Tsukuyomi screamed his name, her voice breaking. Woz’s jaw actually dropped. Sougo couldn’t breathe.

Geiz’s transformation vaporised, around the cane, which had gone right through his back. Then Druga stepped back and yanked it out with an awful wet sound that Sougo was certain he’d never forget. When she let go of his neck, teleporting away again, the other Rider just dropped to the ground without a sound, the wound bleeding too quickly at first, then too slowly.

Everything else seemed to pause. Tsukuyomi flashed down the steps, skidding to a halt by his side, shaking his shoulder. Woz was a few steps behind her, kneeling down stiffly on the Rider’s other side, looking slightly dazed, like he couldn’t really understand what was happening, or his own reaction to it. The shadowy hands faded away, and Sougo managed to stumble over, standing by Geiz’s head, stock still in shock. Tsukuyomi kept shaking him, but it was Woz who hesitantly reached over and felt for a pulse. Sougo knew the answer, long before the prophet sighed deeply, closed his eyes for a moment, then gently lay a hand on Tsukuyomi’s arm, stilling her movements and shaking his head once.

Sougo’s hands trembled, closing into fists at his sides.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Druga cut in from behind them, her voice impassive once more. “That it wouldn’t work.” They looked at her, Tsukuyomi glaring through tears, Woz still looking slightly stunned, Sougo trying to hide his agony behind his helmet. She’d picked up the broken part of her cane from the floor, and was examining both pieces nonchalantly. Then, she set them back together at the broken edge and closed her hand around it—then air shuddered, and when she let it go, the cane was completely repaired. “… That’s better.” She said with a sigh, setting the tip on the floor again. “Now, where were we?”

The dismissive tone was too much. With an angry snarl, Sougo charged at her again, only for her to vanish at the last moment once more, leaving him spinning on his heel searching for her. “Oh ho ho.” Her voice gained the musical, taunting edge again. “So angry you can’t think straight?” He couldn’t find where the words were coming from, like she was a breath of air flitting around him. “What a disappointment.” The air shimmered somewhere behind his shoulder.

“My Overlord!” A hand connected with his back, shoving him hard at the same time he heard the now horribly familiar click of the cane. He fell to one knee, then scrambled frantically around, already fearing what he’d find.

Woz, indeed, had pushed him, and was now stuck in a bubble of frozen time, hand still outstretched. Both Sougo and Tsukuyomi scrambled to get up, but then Druga’s cane tapped the ground again, and the pocket of frozen time expanded sharply, trapping both of them as well. Druga paced around behind the prophet, twirling her reconnected around her hand again.

“How sweet.” She sneered, then leaned over Woz’s shoulder slightly, urging her height to peer at his face. “Is someone getting a little more emotional than expected? What a pity.” She didn’t sound sympathetic in the slightest. Then there was an ominous metallic sound as she drew the blade again, examining it for a moment. “Well, since you’ve apparently got a heart now, and I feel like stabbing things…” She didn’t even wait to finish her sentence—with a flourish so fast Sougo’s eyes only caught parts of it, she grabbed the prophet by the shoulder and ran him through, too. Woz’s body jerked slightly in the stuttering time, and blood actually dripped from the corner of his mouth. It passingly occurred to Sougo that apparently, Woz was human after all—but that thought vanished when Druga pulled the blade out and stepped away, clicking the tip of the sheath on the floor again, restarting time… And Woz merely collapsed on the peeling floorboards, just as deathly still as Geiz was.

Even with movement returned to him, Sougo couldn’t will himself to get up, or even shift his weight at all. His transformation undid itself once more. Everything was crashing apart around him. Again. Was this really how today was doomed to go?

“Sougo!” Tsukuyomi’s voice reached his ears just as he saw flashes of red light in the corner of his eyes. Forcing himself to look up, he saw that she had the FaizPhone out, and was firing on Druga—who had merely lifted a hand and was freezing the shots in midair before batting them out of existence. One shot nearly made it, and Druga frowned slightly, taking a step towards the girl.

 _You failed Geiz and Woz._ Pointed out a voice in his head, making his gaze light upon both bodies, lying in smears of blood. _Twice. Are you going to fail Tsukuyomi again, too?_

Blind desperation raised him from his stupor. Lurching to his feet, he rushed at Druga’s back again, this time managing to get his arms around her waist, trying to drag her back. “Tsukuyomi! Run!”

Druga just rolled her eyes, striking the sheath part on the ground again, twice. The wavering shadow trembled again, then began to run together, swirling into some sort of black hole, creating a huge, vacuuming wind that dragged paintings off the walls, ripped up floorboards, pulling them into nothingness. It began to pull at Sougo’s legs, dragging him towards the edge, especially when Druga vanished right out of his hold.

He’d almost been sucked in when a hand grabbed his arm, shoving him away. He whirled around just in time to dive forward and catch Tsukuyomi’s arm as she was caught by the pull, having gotten just too close when she’d pushed him clear. Holding on with all of his strength, he dug his heels into the floor—but still got yanked along bit by bit.

Tsukuyomi looked between his hold on her arm and the swirling shadows, while parts of the wall began to peel off and get sucked in. “You said… It’s a time loop… Right…?!” She yelled, as the cracked floorboard he was standing on began to give.

“What?!”

She looked him right in the eyes then, her expression unbendingly determined—but also genuinely frightened. “So restart it.” She whispered.

Then let go.

He couldn’t even articulate enough to scream her name when she was pulled out of his hold, his fingers reaching for her again—but she tucked both arms to her chest, closing her eyes. He kept his arms vainly outstretched, like he could will the wind to bring her back, even when he saw her swallowed by the churning shadows with his very eyes, dropping to his knees.

Worse. He’d managed to make it worse.

A large piece of floor that was being sucked in by the wind crashed into the back of his head, turning everything black.

* * *

Sougo sat up in bed with a scream, so fast he made himself dizzy.

The clock read two past nine on a Saturday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woz and Geiz got the boring deaths, this time. Tsukuyomi got sucked into a weird time anomaly-hole-thing.  
> I both hate and love Druga so much. We have a complicated relationship.


End file.
